Future Notre Dame football schedules include Fenway game

12:15 PM, December 20, 2013
|

Notre Dame players sing the Alma Mater after defeating Arizona State in the 2013 Shamrock Series game in Arlington, Texas. Notre Dame will resume the series next season and will contest it at Fenway Park in Boston in 2015. / Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports

by USA TODAY Sports, USA TODAY

by USA TODAY Sports, USA TODAY

Notre Dame might not make the College Football Playoff in the next three seasons, but it is seeking a strength of schedule with that in mind.

Notre Dame's next three seasons of football will include games against Texas and Arizona State and an appearance at Fenway Park in addition to the inception of its five-game annual schedule against ACC opponents.

The Fighting Irish will play a home-and-home against Texas in 2015 and 2016, and the resumption of its rivalry with Boston College will occur Nov. 21, 2015 at Fenway Park in Boston, home of the Boston Red Sox.

From 2012-16, Notre Dame will have 29 combined regular-season games against 13 different teams that ranked in the Bowl Championship Series standings at some point in 2013 â?? five each versus Stanford and USC, three versus Michigan and Michigan State, two each versus Oklahoma, Texas, Miami and Arizona State, plus one each versus Florida State, Clemson, Duke, Virginia Tech and Louisville.

"Our schedules the next three seasons, combined with our 2012 and 2013 schedules, truly exhibit Notre Dame's intention to celebrate our independence," says Notre Dame vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick. "We will be playing in virtually every corner of the country and will have a strength of schedule that will serve us well in the new College Football Playoff format."